||Attention, Attention. The following personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. The following personnel please report to the Observation Deck
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Minging on the Obs Deck (free for all)meat_mooksJanuary 7 2012, 15:57:59 UTC
As the crew filed onto the Obs Deck, a summary of the following information would also be available to them:
Nereus IV was a planet with vast oceans and rich mineral resources, but no native sentient life to speak of. For this reason, according to the Terrans that had begun sending their dropships down to the large southern continent, skeleton exploratory and mining teams had been sent down first -- people experienced in breaking new ground, who could get down to the business of setting up base before the real colonists could arrive with their families.
It was on a carrier ship off the coast of this southern continent to which the crew would now be sent.
"Looks like we finally got off Earth," Jake mused, "At least in this universe. Back home the Andalites had been reluctant (to say the least) to share technology or build ships for the humans. The fact human beings were colonizing other worlds in other universes seemed like a good sign.
"Wonder what they want us for. We're not exactly deep ocean specialists."
Jake ran through a few of his morphs in his head. The orca whale might come in handy; the squid was probably the best for the kind of depths they'd be operating at. Then again, he didn't know how deep his squid-morph could really go.
Zouichi gave him a little shrug as he looked around at the others here. At the very least, it looked like they weren't going all out on the superpowered crew members -- not, he thought darkly, like Galilee. "Maybe some of us have some hidden talents."
Erhart might be able to withstand deep sea pressure; he wasn't sure. And Lash and Howard were good at improvising gadgets. But there didn't really seem to be a solid pattern here, no one thing tying them all together. "I can survive at depth for fairly long durations. But I've never logged significant time down on the sea floor. The closest I've been to the ocean lately is taking care of goldfish."
Briefing on the Saratoga [subthreaded]meat_mooksJanuary 7 2012, 16:03:36 UTC
"Most of this world's resources are located under its oceans," said Kurtz. He was a tall man, thin -- with weathered features and an immaculately pressed uniform. The captain of the Saratoga, the carrier ship on which the crew had landed for their briefing. "So our exploratory stations are almost all undersea ventures. That's not a problem -- we have modular designs that get deployed for this sort of thing, tried and true. The Deepstar 7 is one of those. Thing is, we've lost contact with it, and we're miles out from the nearest mainland where the replacement crew was supposed to come from. They're on their way, all right, but it'll take days for all of them to get out here, and by then..." he looked grim
( ... )
Jake raised his hand, brow furrowed, "I'm not sure how many of us are experts in repair or even medics. I know we're... all going to try and help, but is there anything we should know about before we go down there? Like secret research or science gone crazy or something? I'd rather not get down there and find out your people have created some sort of hideous half-man, half-shark that's trying to kill everyone."
He shrugged, "Just been tricked or used one too many times. Nothing personal."
Kurtz frowned a little as he looked at Jake -- the kid looked young. Maybe not even eighteen yet, certainly not old enough to be Destined or Chosen or whatever it was they'd told him. And what kind of question was that? He hoped this kid wasn't going to panic down there.
"I'm afraid if you want shark-men, son, you're going to be disappointed. We've got scientists down there, but they're geologists, marine biologists, that kind of thing. They were on a survey mission down in the Trench." The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though he wasn't sure he should say more.
(Then again, if there were amphibious Nazi shark-men down there, it wasn't like they'd come out and say it, right?)
"I'd rather be disappointed than horribly surprised," Jake replied. He didn't exactly trust most authority figures, whether out of old, residual paranoia from his days fighting the Yeerks or out of just general distrust of anyone who wanted him to do something for them. Like the Ellimist.
"You're sure there's nothing down there? Just malfunctioning equipment?"
The Descent [subthreaded]meat_mooksJanuary 7 2012, 16:20:54 UTC
Once they'd agreed to the mission, the crew was ushered aboard the Killifish, a compact submersible transport craft built to hold perhaps twenty-five. It had some defensive weaponry, including some claw arms that could be used to grapple with hostile sea life, and an electrical 'skin' system, which could deliver jolts to organisms that might make contact with its hull. However, it was clear that the craft was older, probably refurbished. Apparently, this was the backup carriage; the original had already descended to the Deepstar 7, and could not yet be recovered.
That didn't mean the crew was completely unprepared. There were extra medical and repair kits stowed away in its storage containers, as well as harpoon and stun guns (the latter adapted for undersea use). There were atmospheric diving suits available, each containing twelve hours' worth of emergency breathing mixture.
Of the carriage crew going down with them, the following individuals were introduced: K. Takagi (Carriage pilot): A private contractor who was rush-hired to
( ... )
Re: The Descent [subthreaded]swordofdornJanuary 8 2012, 00:17:23 UTC
Erhart sits around in the Killifish, helmet off, quiet, and thoughtful. He is of course utterly heavily armed and armored, but there's an almost pensive look to him for the moment as he hunches in the submersible, trying not to crack his skull on the ceiling.
Re: The Descent [subthreaded]meat_mooksJanuary 8 2012, 03:00:24 UTC
"Hey, there, big guy!" Mendoza whapped Erhart on the arm (his shoulder was too high) affectionately. "You looking forward to this dive? I'm looking forward to this dive."
Actually, she wasn't, but stiff upper lip and all.
There was a slight tapping on the hull at first, barely noticeable amongst the sounds of the clicking and creaking as the ever-increasing water pressure worried at the Killifish's structural integrity. But not to worry, right? It was built to last.
Allenby jumped. "What the hell?!" But it was kind of a rhetorical question. She was pretty sure it was some monster from the briny depths trying to eat them. "Hey, it sounds like we got a visitor guys!"
Eventually, the crew got past the squid and made it down to the station. It was a dark, gleaming mass of metal, anchored to the sea floor. Blue lights illuminated the station from the outside, casting a sort of eerie glow into the gloom of the surrounding water.
Once the Killifish touched down beside the airlock, the station's automatic docking procedures initiated, creating an airtight seal with the carriage so that the crew could board the station without incident. No one appeared to greet the crew; there were no blaring alarms or system malfunctions. Just near-silence, in which their footsteps would seem to echo down the halls after them.
Only the backup power seemed to be on at the moment. And many areas of the ship were blocked off by heavy metal shutters, designed to be closed during emergencies.
Crew Quartersmeat_mooksJanuary 10 2012, 06:21:09 UTC
The Crew Quarters were located on Mid Level I, consisting of several cabins all clustered around the lift. Or so the station map said, anyway; each of them was locked down. Keycard readers could be seen outside the doors of each of the multi-person cabins, but as to where the keycards for the readers were...
Re: Crew Quartersnobel_berserkerJanuary 10 2012, 19:24:30 UTC
"Hm..." Allenby frowned at the sealed doors and the keycard readers. This would be a great time to have a crowbar or something. Of course, she could try to punch or Nobel Something-or-other her way through, but she'd either break her knuckles or cause some kind of accident.
She pulled a multitool out of her vest pocket and began to work the reader loose from the wall. Maybe she could figure out how to hotwire this thing.
Re: Crew Quartersmeat_mooksJanuary 11 2012, 16:20:09 UTC
Mendoza frowned as Allenby started working the reader loose. "H-hey, are you sure you should be doing that?" She wasn't even sure if Allenby knew how to work electronics.
The reader came off easily enough. There was an entire jumble of wires snaking out of it and into the wall, however -- why did they have to make these things so complicated?
Because science, that's why.
Mendoza looked no less anxious than she'd been on the ship, though she did try to hide it, tapping idly on the door of the cabin they were standing in front of. "So you guys are good in a fight, right?"
Comments 445
Nereus IV was a planet with vast oceans and rich mineral resources, but no native sentient life to speak of. For this reason, according to the Terrans that had begun sending their dropships down to the large southern continent, skeleton exploratory and mining teams had been sent down first -- people experienced in breaking new ground, who could get down to the business of setting up base before the real colonists could arrive with their families.
It was on a carrier ship off the coast of this southern continent to which the crew would now be sent.
Reply
"Wonder what they want us for. We're not exactly deep ocean specialists."
Jake ran through a few of his morphs in his head. The orca whale might come in handy; the squid was probably the best for the kind of depths they'd be operating at. Then again, he didn't know how deep his squid-morph could really go.
Reply
Erhart might be able to withstand deep sea pressure; he wasn't sure. And Lash and Howard were good at improvising gadgets. But there didn't really seem to be a solid pattern here, no one thing tying them all together. "I can survive at depth for fairly long durations. But I've never logged significant time down on the sea floor. The closest I've been to the ocean lately is taking care of goldfish."
Reply
Technically true.
"I guess we'll see what happens when we get down there."
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He shrugged, "Just been tricked or used one too many times. Nothing personal."
Reply
"I'm afraid if you want shark-men, son, you're going to be disappointed. We've got scientists down there, but they're geologists, marine biologists, that kind of thing. They were on a survey mission down in the Trench." The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though he wasn't sure he should say more.
(Then again, if there were amphibious Nazi shark-men down there, it wasn't like they'd come out and say it, right?)
Reply
"You're sure there's nothing down there? Just malfunctioning equipment?"
Reply
That didn't mean the crew was completely unprepared. There were extra medical and repair kits stowed away in its storage containers, as well as harpoon and stun guns (the latter adapted for undersea use). There were atmospheric diving suits available, each containing twelve hours' worth of emergency breathing mixture.
Of the carriage crew going down with them, the following individuals were introduced:
K. Takagi (Carriage pilot): A private contractor who was rush-hired to ( ... )
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Actually, she wasn't, but stiff upper lip and all.
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[Bill to NPC squid]
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"Could we not get away from it somehow?"
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Once the Killifish touched down beside the airlock, the station's automatic docking procedures initiated, creating an airtight seal with the carriage so that the crew could board the station without incident. No one appeared to greet the crew; there were no blaring alarms or system malfunctions. Just near-silence, in which their footsteps would seem to echo down the halls after them.
Only the backup power seemed to be on at the moment. And many areas of the ship were blocked off by heavy metal shutters, designed to be closed during emergencies.
( ... )
Reply
Reply
She pulled a multitool out of her vest pocket and began to work the reader loose from the wall. Maybe she could figure out how to hotwire this thing.
Reply
The reader came off easily enough. There was an entire jumble of wires snaking out of it and into the wall, however -- why did they have to make these things so complicated?
Because science, that's why.
Mendoza looked no less anxious than she'd been on the ship, though she did try to hide it, tapping idly on the door of the cabin they were standing in front of. "So you guys are good in a fight, right?"
Reply
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